


that's why

by anticlimactic



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Season 6B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 04:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12148308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticlimactic/pseuds/anticlimactic
Summary: Theo found the words everywhere. Scribbled in school books, loose papers, on napkins. Inked over photos, old assignments, and on the back of late passes. He saw them come to life in the shower when the glass fogged up, written over and over, rendering the words almost indistinguishable.The sun, the moon, the truth, they screamed, an echo of a mantra losing it’s purpose.





	that's why

**Author's Note:**

> set sometime before 6.18 and 6.19
> 
> enjoy :)

Theo found the words everywhere. Scribbled in school books, loose papers, on napkins. Inked over photos, old assignments, and on the back of late passes. He saw them come to life in the shower when the glass fogged up, written over and over, rendering the words almost indistinguishable. Fingers traced them onto furniture or a cloth clad knee when the other boy thought he wasn’t being watched. 

But Theo was always watching Liam, and he knew what obsession looked like. Currently, the younger werewolf was at school as far as Theo knew. Theo sat in Liam’s desk chair, swiveling slightly with his foot grounded in front of him. His fingers traced the words etched harshly into the edge of the desk. The sun, the moon, the truth, they screamed from the damaged wood, an echo of a mantra losing it’s purpose.

Liam’s control was a delicate thing, Theo knew, but this was the room of a boy falling from the edge. The sheets of the bed remained kicked into a crumpled pile; Theo could smell the residual fear that must have plagued Liam’s dreams. Clothes were strewn about, dusty textbooks stacked on the desk looking like they hadn’t moved since school started, and a couple of fist-shaped holes in the wall cleverly covered by a poster for some indie band Liam definitely didn’t have time for. 

What 3 things can’t stay hidden? Liam’s anger, fear, and crumbling stability. 

Theo began making the bed, mostly to mess with Liam. He’d been breaking into Liam’s house somewhat frequently for the past few weeks, during the day when the werewolf was at school and his parents were working. It had started with a desperation for a hot shower; you couldn’t blame him, living out of the back of a pick up truck didn’t offer many comforts. Parking a few miles deep into the Beacon Hills Preserve, Theo had left his car safely in the woods and manipulated the lock mechanism that led into the basement entrance at Liam’s house. Which may have meant he’d punched it into tiny pieces. He usually didn’t stay long, just to freshen up and maybe pity himself for a little while. He’d once even let his guard down long enough to nap on Liam’s couch, the most peaceful sleep he’d had in a while.

Theo wasn’t exactly trying to be subtle. Liam’s abilities were still questionable but there was no way he hadn’t picked up Theo’s scent by now. Weirdly, Theo almost wanted the werewolf to confront him about it, even for him to pick a fight, tell him to back off. Maybe that’s what happened when you lived without human contact almost every day. But the fact that Liam hadn’t sent Theo away spoke more words that any dull threat for him to stop. 

As Theo shook out Liam’s blanket, probably with more force than needed, a small photo floated to the ground. Curious, he crouched down, reaching for it and flipping over the wallet-sized image to reveal a photo of what appeared to be a family. A man and a woman, perched on a rock with a toddler in-between them, overbite and gray-blue eyes identical to Liam’s. The photo was unmarred by scores or scratches, pen marks or words. Theo pocketed the photo, tucked Liam’s blanket gently over his bed, and left the room, but not before tearing down the stupid poster to reveal crumbling plaster. 

Theo smirked on his way out, grabbed an apple from the kitchen, and quietly slipped out through the basement. The door sighed softly behind him, and without looking back, he jogged into the woods.

 

Theo’s senses were overwhelmed with the harsh crunch of leaves and the bitter scent of anger before the clumsy werewolf stormed onto the bridge where Theo stood with his arms braced against the railing. 

“Where is it?” Liam demanded, breathing heavily beside Theo. 

Keeping his gaze on the narrow stream below, Theo feigned ignorance. “What, the anuk-ite? If I knew, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Stop,” Liam growled. He pushed Theo’s shoulder so the other boy was forced to face him. “You know what I’m talking about.”

At this point, Liam’s eyes were glowing yellow and Theo was beginning to feel a stinging sensation were Liam’s fingers gripped like a vise. Not angry enough. “Do I? Care to explain?” He smirked as Liam shoved him again. Strangely, Theo was looking for a fight. Could be a side effect of living alone with only his thoughts sparking flints in his head, or a side effect of spending a little too much time with the annoying entity that is Liam. Inexplicably, Theo liked to see him get riled.

“You have something of mine,” Liam practically shouted, “And I want it back.” Letting out harsh breaths, Liam’s control was fleeting and Theo almost couldn’t resist. 

“Dude, I took like one apple,” Theo said smugly, turning away from Liam again. “And I don’t think you want to get that back.”

Finally, Liam roared in full and shoved Theo to the ground. He hit the wood with an unforgiving smack but remained smiling grimly as he rolled to the side and pulled himself to standing. “You think one push phases me? You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

“Stop lying!” Liam yelled. He raised a fist, and swung it at Theo’s face; the other boy accepted the punch with a dull satisfaction. 

“Ouch, Liam, what was that for?” Theo said with mock confusion. He tasted blood and wiped his nose with cuff of his jacket. The sleeve came back sticky with blood, but Theo knew a broken nose wouldn’t last long. 

Liam grabbed Theo by the collar of his denim jacket and slammed him back up against the bridge. There was anger in the werewolf’s eyes, but also pain, a pain Theo recognized upon looking in the mirror when he let down the steely wall he’d built to mask true emotions like regret. Or guilt. Theo didn’t know the feeling until revisiting the bridge from where he’d watched his sister freeze. He glanced over to the spot now, a speckled rock that jutted from the natural flow of the river. It was like he could feel his sister’s eyes on him. 

Liam had lifted a trembling fist, chest heaving, and Theo realized he was mumbling those words, those three words that Theo hated. And with a grim determination, Theo knew he had to help him. Since when did another person’s problems become something that concerned him? 

“Those words won’t help you,” Liam’s eyes finally snapped to Theo’s. His fangs still protruded awkwardly from his mouth, and he snarled. Theo’s lips twitched upwards. “When hunters are coming for you, when the aunk-ite is coming, is the sun really going to help you? The moon doesn’t seem too trustworthy to be honest either. And I don’t know about the truth because there really doesn’t seem to be a lot of it in this town.”

Liam’s face tightened, eyebrows drawing in confusion. Theo continued, “When hunters are hurting you, the three things that can’t stay hidden are your fear, anger, and bloodlust. You’re going to kill someone.” 

“That’s not true,” Liam forced out between breaths.

“It is and you know it. You were about to kill Gabe in that locker room until I showed up.” Theo stared defiantly at Liam. “I don’t care if you kill him.” Theo shrugged honestly.

“Then why stop me?” Liam growled, head cocked to the side. He still panted a handful of inches from Theo, breath white in the dwindling daylight. A thin stream of blood dotted the corner of his mouth which was turned up with disgust.

“Because I know you care,” Theo retorted. “It’s emotion that gets you riled up. You need to step back from your feelings and really think about it. What would happen after you killed Gabe? The town would probably want to murder you even more than usual and you’d be facing capital offense. It’s nothing to scoff about.”

Liam had began to calm down, breaths evening and fists curling open. Averting his eyes, the beta stepped away from Theo and leaned forward on the railing next to him, head on the splintered wood. “I know. I keep fucking up. You don’t need to rub it in,” he muttered, voice slightly defeated. “I just get so angry,” he added, seeming almost surprised at the admission.

“That much is clear,” Theo said, ignoring Liam’s glare. “But your little mantra, it’s an obsession.” Theo’s hand lingered to his own heart, searching for the steady pulse. He still thought about his sister, overanalyzing every interaction they had as children, truly questioning what led to his decision. And he constantly recounted his time in hell, feeling the wounds like they were still fresh, each word like it was still real. He thought he knew what obsession felt like. “And so is this.” Theo slipped the photo out of his back pocket, holding it between two fingers. Despite his mask of indifference, Theo was an introspective person, and was able to draw a few conclusions on Liam’s home life. Divorced parents, dad out of the picture? Son with IED? Liam’s cherished photo showed a time when all were happy, but the werewolf held on to something that wasn’t real. Liam's birth father had been an angry man. 

Before Liam could react, Theo let the photo slip from his fingers and float down into the river below. Theo felt a twinge of unforetold regret as he saw the true distress fill Liam’s eyes, and his desperate reach over the edge to no avail. Instantly, Liam turned on him, hands splayed at his sides, claws out.

“Why did you do that?” He roared, shoulders trembling. Guilt crept up Theo’s spine but he tamped it down; Liam needed to let go. 

“Liam, you need to calm down,” Theo said slowly hands in front of him, a gesture of defense and comfort. “Ground yourself to something real. No empty words or false memories can help you.”

The beta’s yellow eyes glimmered, and his voice broke as he shouted, “You ruined it!” He turned and punched at the banister, shattering the wood. He reared his fist back and Theo quickly stepped in; he didn’t want to see what would break first, the railing, or Liam’s hand. 

“Liam,” he whispered. A tear fell from Liam’s eye and he angrily wiped at it, streaking his cheek with messy blood. “Focus on something real. Focus on my voice.” 

The beta wouldn’t listen, he kept muttering to himself about Theo ruining everything.

Sighing, Theo cracked his neck and shifted unwillingly. His fangs felt uncomfortable in his mouth, unnatural. His eyes burned yellow and he roared one word, “Liam!”

The two syllables echoed through the forest, and in their wake left silence. Liam stopped his tirade and blinked at Theo, eyes luminescent yellow, then dull gray, then filling with tears as he sunk to the ground. 

Theo stood above Liam, whose head rested between his knees, shoulders quaking. Flexing his fingers, Theo felt his claws retract, followed by his fangs. What had he just done? One minute Liam was ready to jump off the bridge to follow a broken past, and the next he was here, carrying the burden of the present. Had Theo just anchored Liam? He wondered what this meant, suddenly feeling unsure about the crying boy below him. 

“I keep fucking up. I just get so angry,” Liam echoed absently, between choked breaths and muted sniffs. “I’m just like my dad.”

The last part was barely a whisper, but Theo didn’t need chemo signals to know the boy felt hopeless, grasping onto the lingering straws of control and praying the apple fell far from the tree. 

Theo sank onto the bridge beside Liam and focused ahead of him on his rock, his sister’s rock. “It’s not your fault,” Theo said honestly. He picked at a piece of loose splintered wood, distracting himself from the heat emanating off of Liam’s body. The words didn’t feel only for Liam; they resonated with Theo too. Was it his fault that at a young age he was easily influenced by a couple of strange men with the bright promise of superpowers? Was it his fault that his mind was so manipulated as a kid that killing his own pack seemed like a power play? Maybe. But if someone else could forgive him than maybe he could forgive himself. And Liam seemed to offer more forgiveness than Theo could muster, opening his home to him in an unspoken gesture. Or maybe he just hadn’t had the time to fix the basement door lock. Either way, Liam was not to blame for a mental disorder out of his control. 

“It’s your brain, not you,” Theo continued. “You’re wired differently, and maybe it’s because of your parents, or maybe not. Your anger reaches places higher than most people, or werewolves for that matter, and that just means you need something more solid to bring you down.” Theo wrung his wrists together in front of him, glancing toward Liam who now balanced his forehead in his palms. 

“Why do you always know what to say?” Liam huffed and shook his head. His eyes were still wet but he looked less like he was on the brink of falling apart, which helped Theo breath easier.

Theo smirked, “It’s hard to shut me up. I get a lot of practice.”

Liam almost smiled, and Theo’s heart lifted. “You can say that again,” he mumbled. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and chewed on it, and let a harsh breath out of his nose. When he spoke again, his voice shook slightly, “When I was wolfed out… you..” He stopped, shook his head. “You did something. You said my name and… you said my name and it brought me back.” Finally, he turned to look directly at Theo, and the chimera noticed the little distance between them. He could practically feel Liam’s hip against his. “Why did you do that?” The boy asked, honest and raw.

Theo licked his lips slightly. “I don’t know,” he admitted truthfully. The question rang through his head, bouncing off his skull, and came back inverted; a different question with the same answer. “Why haven’t you kicked me out of your house?”

Liam held onto Theo’s eyes, chest rising and falling with each new breath, the burden of being human. 

What three things can’t stay hidden? Liam’s rising heartbeat, Theo’s unwashed clothes, and the pair’s undeniable connection. 

Liam reached out slowly, and Theo’s heart stopped. The boy’s fingertips brushed his hairline, than his eyebrow, than his cheekbone. A thumb wiped at a smear of dirt that blended with the tired purple skin. A pinky brushed back greasy hair, tucking it behind an ear that still heard the pleas of a sister long forgotten. Liam’s lips were parted, eyes heavy as he surveyed Theo’s face. Finally, he closed the distance until Theo’s eyelashes brushed his cheeks and his breath mingled with Liam’s. Their lips touched and Theo was electric, but it was different, not like when he used Josh’s ability. This was real power, something Theo felt in his bones, and he was sharing it with Liam. Liam’s lips were hot where Theo’s were cold, his hands supportive where Theo’s were still limp at his sides. 

Liam pulled away slightly, his nose and cheeks pink from the biting cold. His hand remained at the base of Theo’s neck, fingering the ends of his hair. Theo leaned his forehead against Liam’s shoulder.

“That’s why,” He breathed out, and it felt like an answer. An answer to a building question. He felt Liam nod against him, and leaned up to kiss the boy again.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! leave kudos or comments if you enjoy, they're really helpful to motivate me :)


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